Page 46 of Jordan’s Breakthrough (Unexpected Love #3)

I’ve never seen a bookstore this crowded in my life.

The line outside winds around the corner with people buzzing in that polite-but-barely-contained energy you only get at a signing. It’s a bit surreal, really. Okay, a lot surreal. Is this really our life now?

I squeeze Jordan’s hand as we approach the front, and he gives me that disbelieving half-smile. Here we go, his eyes seem to say.

Inside, it’s even louder. The store smells like coffee, new books, and way too many people. I hover near the back while Jordan is wrangled away by the store manager who’s wearing a bright green “The Divided Sky” button. There’s a sign near the podium that says:

In Conversation With: Jordan Sanchez–Author of The Divided Sky.

It’s definitely all surreal.

I try to pretend I’m not overwhelmed when really, I’m screaming inside. Big, messy crowds like this are sensory overload.

“Miles!”

A wave of calm crashes over me as Korie eases their way through the crowd.

Their warm energy and confident demeanor has been a source of peace for me since I started my position at the San Diego hospital.

They work in the radiology department, which was where I first started, and we clicked instantly.

We’ve seen some crazy shit together. I mean, how many foreign objects in people’s asses are we up to now? Forty-seven or forty-eight?

Korie’s reddish hair is pulled up into two perfect puffs, and their badge is still clipped to their scrub top like they ran straight here after work. They hand me a cold iced tea.

“When did you last eat? You look like a ghost.”

I sip the drink gratefully. “Am I that obvious?”

“Oh yeah.” Korie reaches into their bag and offers me a granola bar. “Here. It might be a little crushed, but it’s better than nothing.”

“Thanks. It’s been a crazy morning, okay?”

They smirk. “What kind of crazy?”

My blush gives me away.

Korie bumps me. “Hell yeah! That’s what I like to hear. Is Sophie here yet?”

“She’s with Seth and Declan saving us seats.”

“Perfect.”

We find them easily, Sophie waving us down from the front row. Declan has an arm slung around Seth’s shoulders, who looks just this side of feral trying to wrangle a green “The Divided Sky” hat back from Piper. It makes me laugh. I love these people so much it almost hurts.

Two years ago, I didn’t know any of them. And now? Now they’re mine. All of them. By some miracle, I fit into the group perfectly, and Sophie does too. She and Korie have really hit it off, becoming close friends.

It’s been a good year. No—scratch that. It’s been an amazing one.

San Diego feels like home in ways I did not expect.

The hospital is huge and chaotic, but it’s also rewarding, and working with Korie makes every day a little brighter.

Jordan and I have our rhythm now, our late-night grocery runs and 2 a.m. brainstorm sessions on the couch, followed by snuggle time or movies.

Mondays are the best, since Jordan and I are both off.

It’s fun being included in Family Day now too.

It makes the pain of missing home almost unnoticeable.

We’ve even got a plan for the future. In another month, when my contract is up, we’re packing up the motorhome and hitting the road.

Five years, forty-four cities, and with any luck, only a few septic tank disasters.

I’ll continue with my short-term travel nurse contracts, and Jordan will continue his copy writing and remote work for Declan while writing his next bestseller.

We’ll see the sights, make some memories, and make love as often as we want.

After the next five years, we’ll come back and call San Diego home. Officially.

Jordan has mentioned kids a few times, and it’s surprising how much I want that. But first, I want to be married. Call me old-fashioned, but it’s just the way I’ve always seen it. Dating, married, kids.

So until then, kids are on the “someday” list.

Sophie squirms in her seat as she talks to Korie and Holden, who sit on the other side. I turn in my seat to look around, wanting to take this all in so I can describe it to Jordan later.

And that’s when I see them.

My parents.

They’re standing near the back of the seating area, looking a little lost but incredibly happy. Mom is in her “nice” sweater—the silver and purple one she only saves for family get-togethers. Dad is adjusting his glasses, looking just as overwhelmed as I feel. I get that from him.

“What are they doing here?” I whisper to no one.

Sophie turns. “Who?”

I can barely bring myself to point. “Them,” I say, as if she should know who they are. She’s never met my parents.

“Is that your family?”

“Yeah. My parents. But they rarely travel.” It makes no sense that they would be here, especially when Jordan is doing signings in Chicago and Ann Arbor later this year. Those are much closer to home. Why would they come to Southern California?

“You think something’s wrong?”

I shake my head, slowly. “They would’ve told me. Plus, they’re smiling.”

“Maybe they just wanted to come to his first ever signing?”

“Yeah. Maybe.” Dad is one of Jordan’s biggest fans, and he even helps Jordan with beta reads now. Constantly promoting him on Facebook. But wouldn’t they have told me if they were planning to be here?

Before I can fully process it, the lights dim and Jordan appears at the mic.

He looks radiant. Not polished or perfect, but just wholly him in a plain, crisp green button-down shirt with his hair braided. He’s wearing his signature leather necklace too. I still don’t know the significance of the necklace, but I don’t think it has one either. He just likes it.

“Hi,” he says into the mic, voice steady. “I’m Jordan Sanchez, and apparently… a lot of you bought my book, which I still don’t understand, but thank you.”

Laughter ripples through the crowd. My heart thuds.

He talks for twenty minutes about his book, his writing, and how he first met his character, Charlie, while driving through the Joshua Tree National Park.

“It just looked so sparse, you know. So foreign. Like another planet. And that’s when I heard his voice for the first time.

He came to me alone and desperate. Clawing his way through a darkness he didn’t understand.

So I pulled over to listen, and scribbled some ideas down.

” He taps a brown notebook in front of him.

“That’s where it all started. That day. I didn’t know his whole story, but I knew I had to help him. ”

Jordan turns his story to Graham, and how he lost his spark for the series after his friend died.

“I’m not ashamed to say I slipped into the worst depression I’ve ever experienced.

Losing Graham changed me. And I was blind to the depth of that change until much later, when I met someone who helped me see it.

” He pauses, swallowing hard. “They reminded me that there’s still color in the world, and meeting them taught me that love doesn’t always show up in the way we expect.

Sometimes it can start with a simple Facebook message. ”

He scans the front row, and when he finds me, his face softens.

“You, Miles. You helped me see who I really am. You gave me the courage to be that person, to get the help I needed to finally climb out of the darkness. You showed me a life I didn’t think I could have.

You brought me joy. You brought me hope and laughter.

And you taught me that I can do really cool things with a crochet hook and yarn. ”

A few quiet chuckles float around the room. I’m frozen, transfixed by what he’s saying. I wasn’t prepared for him to call me out like this.

Jordan stares at me, expression so full of love I can almost feel it. Then he murmurs something under his breath, shakes his head, and pushes his seat back before climbing off the stage. He walks over to where I’m sitting in the front row and pulls something from his pocket. My jaw drops.

Oh my God.

Is he…

Jordan drops to one knee right in front of me, and I hear several shocked gasps, but then the crowd is dead silent.

“I was planning to do this tonight at dinner with our family, but then I thought better of it. I want the whole world to know how I feel about you. Because you’re it for me, Miles.

From that very first message to now, you’ve been it.

My best friend, my greatest listener, and my biggest supporter.

And I know it’s all just the beginning of our own epic romance.

I want more with you. I want to share every sunset with you.

See every national park and visit every city.

I want to celebrate every small and impossible moment, because you’ve taught me there is no such thing as impossible. ”

He holds up a simple silver band.

“Miles Breckton, will you allow me the greatest privilege of being your husband?”

My vision blurs, and a laugh slips up my throat.

Sophie claps a hand over her mouth like she can’t believe what she’s witnessing, and I see Piper standing off to the side, recording the whole thing with her phone.

Yet all I can focus on is him. My beautiful, kind, loving Jordan, kneeling in front of me asking me to be his forever.

“Yes,” I breathe. “Yes. Of course.”

He pulls me to my feet, and I throw my arms around him. We’re both shaking, both laughing, and when he kisses me, the crowd erupts with applause.

The ring is warm when he slides it onto my finger, a perfect fit. I stare at it for a moment in disbelief. How long has he been planning this?

Long enough to get my parents in on it, I realize. That’s why they’re here. Jordan cared enough to include my family.

“I love you so much.”

He kisses me again. “I love you too.”

Sophie slams into me from the side, hugging me tight. Then Declan, Seth, and everyone else close in. Their know-it-all grins tell me they’ve been in on this for a while. Except maybe Sophie, but Jordan probably picked up on the fact that she’s not to be trusted with secrets.

And somehow, that makes it even sweeter. Because he’s not only my best friend, but he’s hers too. And Declan and Seth and all of his friends are mine as well. We’re woven together, in our own messy, beautiful way.

And it’s perfect.

It’s mine, and it’s home.

Finally, after drifting from city to city, and place to place, I finally found where I belong.

***

THE END